Player of the game: Although the final numbers don't show it, Chris Otule was dominant in the opening 10 minutes or so of the first half, and it made a difference for the MU Golden Eagles on Saturday night.

The sophomore center, who had a dust-up with coach Buzz Williams in the pre-game shootaround earlier in the day, scored all 10 of his points in first 10 minutes 51 seconds as he had his way in the paint against an undersized Seton Hall team.

Foul trouble early in the second half limited his role the rest of the way, but he still wound up grabbing eight rebounds and blocked a shot in 20 minutes. An 0-for-5 performance at the free-throw line was the only downside to his performance.

Play of the game: There wasn't a whole lot for the announced crowd of 18,436 to shout about in a grinder of a game for the Golden Eagles.

Probably the most aesthetically pleasing moment of the game for MU came at the 13:42 mark of the second half, when Junior Cadougan flipped a pass behind him on the break to a streaking Jimmy Butler, who threw down a two-handed jam to give the Golden Eagles a 46-38 lead.

Turning point: For as poorly as MU started the game from the free-throw line -- 2 for 10 in the first half -- it salted away the proceedings down the stretch with a much better performance.

The Golden Eagles wound up hitting 14 of their final 16 from the charity stripe over the final 10:47, with Dwight Buycks hitting two to start the parade after Seton Hall had pulled to within 48-45.

Shooting around: MU improved to 8-0 against Seton Hall since joining the Big East in the 2005-'06 season...Otule's 10 points were a career high in Big East play...Otule and Davante Gardner combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds...MU's 55.1% shooting was its third-best performance from the floor this season...Butler moved up to 34th on the all-time scoring list with 1,115 career points...Official Chris Beaver did not return for the second half after straining his calf...MU out-rebounded Seton Hall, 40-22...The Golden Eagles have now committed 12, 18 and 15 turnovers in their last three games...Thanks to Buycks and Crowder starting the game on the bench, MU's reserves out-scored Seton Hall's, 30-7, for the game. Buycks had 11 points and Crowder 12...Williams started Cadougan and Joe Fulce in place of Buycks and Crowder. Cadougan had four points, five assists and three turnovers in 18 minutes, and Fulce five rebounds in 12 minutes.

Seton Hall coach Kevin Williard

Had to zone because of your numbers, but did you expect to have such trouble on the glass: "Not as much as we did. For having such a short bench we've actually been hanging pretty tough, but they did a great job. They play hard and they did a great job of really getting in there and getting a lot of second shots that hurt us."

Foul trouble on Pope: "We're trying to hide him. I don't want to play so much zone, but it's tough to. Everybody knows once he goes out of the game we struggle. I think we're going to try...maybe play him at the point guard. Maybe if he doesn't play the center spot it'll help him out a little bit."

Play of Jordan Theodore: "Theo, I thought, played pretty well. He's got to continue to attack and drive -- that's when he's at his best. He's got to stop looking to shoot the pullup and really look to start attacking a little bit more. He had a tough week, so for him to come and play the way he did, I was really happy for him."

Surprised MU wasn't more patient with the ball: "No, overall I think they're a very patient team if you watch them. They take advantage of their opportunities. What makes them tough is they have 3-4 guys that get you off the dribble; they don't have just one guy or two guys like most teams. They remind me a lot of Villanova, the way they attack you. They get to the free-throw line a lot and they always have you a little on guard. I thought they did a good job of really attacking us early."

A lot of teams have tried zoning MU this year: "We zoned them just because of our numbers, not because that's what we wanted to do. We actually wanted to play man, but once Herb got fouls, that's all we could do. I thought they played really well against Syracuse, Notre Dame's zone, and I thought they really struggled when South Florida played them man-to-man there. So we were going to play them man-to-man, but we just can't because we don't have the numbers."

Did the second shots of MU play a big factor: "I thought our defense was very good in the first half, even though we gave up a high percentage -- the last minute of the first half hurt us, giving up that 6-0 run. This is the highest field-goal percentage we've given up all year, so I give them credit. They came in and did some really good things and made some tough shots."

Otule and Gardner: "They played well. (pauses) If I could put a 6-10 guy in there and just duck in the whole time and not get a three-second call or an offensive foul, I'd have a pretty good game, too."

MU coach Buzz Williams

Opening statement: "I thought that we played much better, and won the game for several reasons. We were able to string together consecutive stops in both halves -- obviously more in the second half than in the first. I thought we made way more winning plays than we had been making. We turned the ball over way too much again. Chris didn't make any free throws in the first half, but it was by far the most dominating performance he's had in a game, much less a half. Davante was the swing vote in the second half, thought he played really well. Just thought we made more winning plays than we'd been making."

Changes to the starting lineup: "Change it up. I love all of them; I don't think we have a player on our roster. It was nothing Buycks did, it was nothing Jae did. Let's change it up. I thought Junior was as good as he has been. I think Joe is a great traffic rebounder, as long as Joe doesn't get completely annihilated in the post, when the shot goes up he'll always have a chance to get a rebound. As many times as he'll screw up offensively, not understanding what to do, he'll find an open spot and he can make an open shot. I thought all of our guys played really well."

Otule: "I just think he's getting better. I think he's growing, trying to figure it out. He wants to be a really good player, and he's never been a really good player. He's continuing to grow, spending a lot of time in the gym, spends a lot of time with Todd (Smith), spend a lot of time (watching tape). I just think he's kind of coming into his own relative to, 'I understand.' Is he an all-league guy as a sophomore? No. Is he ever an all-league guy? No. But I never thought that he would be a guy that could go 0 for 5 from the free-throw line and have seven rebounds and 10 points in however many minutes he played in the first half."

Will you stick with this lineup: "Not to sound wrong or silly, but I just want to win. So if you can help us win, you can play. Again, nothing anybody did. They've been on point. We were off on Wednesday. I was completely out of town, which was healthy for me. Healthy for me to be away from all of it. Spent a lot of time in the plane, lot of time in the car, only talked to my wife, and it was good. Then we worked really good on Thursday. Went back and simplfied a lot of stuff, and just worked on those things Thursday, Friday and today, and I think it helped."

Win for momentum: "We need to win. All those games that we lost, you could argue that we should have, could have or needed to win. But we didn't make enough winning plays to win. And I thought tonight that we did."

Worried about Vander Blue's mindset right now: "Yeah, I'm worried because I don't think he'll eat again until I see him again. He doesn't eat very good. He likes what my sons eat -- cereal and granola bars and gummy bears. I don't think he eats very well when I'm not around him. That's the only thing I worry about."

Free-throw shooting: "Entering tonight we were fifth in our league in free-throw percentage -- we shot 70 percent through 13 games. So including all the misses at South Florida...we were 2 of 10 and Chris missed five in a row. If he doesn't miss those five, say he makes 3 of 5, we make 19 out of 26 and instead of 62 percent it's 74 percent, and that's about what we shoot. Chris needs to make free throws."

Reported blowup between you and Otule in the shootaround: "I was the first coach to ever meet Chris. His parents have never seen him play a game. He thinks of me in a very positive, high regard, and I'm very proud of his growth. I think he's on the threshold of turning into a really good player. And if that means I need to holler and scream, then I'll holler and scream. If that means I have to pat him on the back, I'll pat him on the back. But he has grown up and matured through a lot of ruthlessness by me, and what I did today in 45 seconds pales in comparison to what he's been through. And it shows his growth that he wanted to holler back at me. And when he got through hollering at me, I go, 'I like that.' "